On 19 Jun 2007, at 12:35 pm, Sydney Hudspith wrote:
> Regarding the "Byker Wall", - after a few years, the local use of
> the term "The Wall" became parlance for the whole development,
> which by then included that part encircled by The Wall - - it
> became the new Byker Village I believe.
> Another district just a few miles away, "Wallsend" derives from the
> location of the beginning of Hadrian' wall, hence my prior comment.
> Anyway, thanks in large part to the "participatory design" of the
> Erskine team, the whole thing seems to have worked in social terms,
> not just the strictly mechanical "resettlement" of people.
> Other observations?
I remember being very impressed by the development when I first
visited sometime in the 80s. I was shown around by the proud
managing director of a local company, himself a geordie.
The wall part seemed to refer more to a 'blank' side of the
development which faced a main road, therefore had fewer/smaller
windows to combat noise. It was also the view of the development that
a lot of passing traffic would have gained. I guess that both Alun
and Syd are correct in the local influences of the term 'wall'.
I understood that part of the social experiment was the resettlement
of cleared families in groups that were retained when they were
returned to the new development. Familiar landmarks such as street
names and a pub were retained also. There was use of defensible
space in low rise housing with something of a village feel. I gather
that nuisance crime was down, and there was certainly an absence of
vandalism in marked contrast to some other parts of Newcastle at the
time.
Of course, things may have changed, and it would be interesting to
hear from someone local with an up to date perspective.
David
_______________________________________________
David Durling PhD FDRS | Professor of Design
School of Arts & Education, Middlesex University
Cat Hill, Barnet, Hertfordshire, EN4 8HT, UK
tel: 020 8411 5108 | international: + 44 20 8411 5108
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